Other podcasts

[Justin Leego]

Has it been mentioned? Jr. Mints on Isometric with the usual crew plus Gita Jackson:

 

 

#35: Go Bug Your Mom About Bayonetta

December 29, 2014 at 2:30PM • 55 minutes

It's all come down to this, part one of Isometric's Game of the Year spectacular. Special guest stars Gita Jackson and Danielle Riendeau shock the Isometric cast with their tiebreaking votes. Hearts will be dashed, dreams will be ruined, and nothing will ever be the same!

The Nominees:

Biggest Disappointment:

• Destiny
• Assassin’s Creed: Unity
• Watch Dogs

Best Representation:

• Wolfenstein: The New Order
• Never Alone
• Captain Toad
• Dragon Age: Inquisition

[Bjorn]

Has it been mentioned? Jr. Mints on Isometric with the usual crew plus Gita Jackson:

 

Neat! I downloaded that episode today, but didn't realize Jr Mints was on it!

 

I used to listen to Thom Hartmann for this (I don't know if he's still doing what he was doing, I used to listen to his satellite radio show) because while he's not a scholar, he was a bit of a self-taught political historian who provided some admittedly progressive but context-rich commentary. I also liked his show because he'd invite a co-host for every show and about half of his co-hosts were of an opposing political persuasion.

 

I looked him up, you can stream his show live for free, but access to recorded archives for download takes a paid subscription. I'll try to listen to a couple of his live shows to check him out. I don't mind paying for podcasts if they're really good.

[Mawd]

BBC 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage anyone?

 

It's a really special science podcast that features a physicist, and a person who almost became a physicist but decided mid dissertation that a life of comedy was more enriching. Anyway each episode they invite at least one comedian and one scientist along to discuss questions surrounding science and science communication like 'Is irrationality genetic?', 'Can science save us?', 'Are humans uniquely unique?' and other such goodies. 

 

srsly check it out it's great : D

[clyde]

Does anyone have recommendations on what equipment to get to start a podcast where two hosts are local and they like headsets because they are particularly gesticular? We want to keep it under $100 and we are using Audacity.

[Glotal]

Good headsets cost much, much more than normal microphones of comparable quality due to the physical constraints of mounting them onto a pair of headphones. You also cannot put a pop filter onto a headset mic, so any puffs of air you make while talking will mess with the sound quality of your recording. Furthermore, most headphones do not create a sound proof seal, so if you listen to anything while recording the sound will bleed through the headphone's speakers and get picked up by the mi, so you cannot personally monitor the audio levels while you record. Finally, if you move your head while you gesticulate, your headset will slide around, making your volume/audio levels inconsistent while recording. You might want to look into getting an omnidirectional microphone, like the Blue Yeti or Blue Snowball. The biggest problem with using an omnidirectional mic to record is that everything will be on a single audio channel, so you cannot boost the audio levels of one of the hosts after you record. Audacity should be great for recording and editing a podcast.

 

It's crazy how much work it takes to make a podcast sound nice. 

[clyde]

I've been looking through all my junk and found a set of drum-microphones (two of which pick us up pretty well) and I'm in the process of cleaning the pots of my 4-track so we can use it as a mixer. Pro-tip: audio-splitters with two females and one male connection that are designed for outputting through the females do not work as a mixer. I didn't really understand the electrical diagram that explains this, but it looked like the person who drew it did. 

[James]

BBC 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage anyone?

 

It's a really special science podcast that features a physicist, and a person who almost became a physicist but decided mid dissertation that a life of comedy was more enriching. Anyway each episode they invite at least one comedian and one scientist along to discuss questions surrounding science and science communication like 'Is irrationality genetic?', 'Can science save us?', 'Are humans uniquely unique?' and other such goodies. 

 

srsly check it out it's great : D

You missed the part where the physicist was formerly a member of a successful but rubbish pop band.

Anyway, it's a good programme that I'd also recommend.

(Incidentally, BBC 4 is a television channel; Infinite Monkey Cage is broadcast on BBC Radio 4. You are welcome to hate me for this item of pedantry.)

[Apple Cider]

It's crazy how much work it takes to make a podcast sound nice. 

 

This, which is why I get a little sad that people are so hard on audio quality. I know audio quality is really annoying to listen to but the time and effect and even money that it takes to sound crisp and professional is really daunting! 

 

Speaking of, I am attempting to do the single person audio track/audio sync method finally and hope it goes well without adding too much time to my editing process. 

[SuperBiasedMan]

This, which is why I get a little sad that people are so hard on audio quality.

 

[Twig]

Sorry, audio quality is super important when you're delivering a purely aural experience. I don't care how hard it is. I know how hard it is. I've fallen prey to that difficulty, myself. None of that matters when the end product is actually unpleasant, and sometimes even difficult to listen to, because the audio quality is shit. Maybe I'm an audio snob. Fine. I'll accept that label. It's important to me that I don't hear popping or peaking or random distortion or varied volumes among people talking or or or. I'll tolerate a lot, but I certainly won't allow it to happen without complaining!

[Mawd]

You missed the part where the physicist was formerly a member of a successful but rubbish pop band.

Anyway, it's a good programme that I'd also recommend.

(Incidentally, BBC 4 is a television channel; Infinite Monkey Cage is broadcast on BBC Radio 4. You are welcome to hate me for this item of pedantry.)

The pedantry is fine. I have no idea on the finer points of the BBC as I have never been a part of Britain. Same for the pop band fact; although I suppose I may have heard about it on the show.

[Apple Cider]

Sorry, audio quality is super important when you're delivering a purely aural experience. I don't care how hard it is. I know how hard it is. I've fallen prey to that difficulty, myself. None of that matters when the end product is actually unpleasant, and sometimes even difficult to listen to, because the audio quality is shit. Maybe I'm an audio snob. Fine. I'll accept that label. It's important to me that I don't hear popping or peaking or random distortion or varied volumes among people talking or or or. I'll tolerate a lot, but I certainly won't allow it to happen without complaining!

 

I absolutely agree that it is important! I also think there's quite a huge difference between unlistenable and then small fixes that can take it from merely amateur to professional sounding and that people with way better setups or advanced understanding of production ultimately shape the curve for what people expect. 

 

My gripe about difficulty is that someone like me is producing two podcasts for fun inbetween working 40 hours a week and I'm really lucky that our fans donate to a Patreon for the main one I do - there was no way I would have been able to afford a better mic when we first started out. There's also the whole "chasing down and learning how to" time cost too - I taught myself or else badgered people to teach me how to fix some things in Audacity and had to rely on memory of very outdated audio production classes (I actually learned to cut physical tape, that's how long ago it was) for some of the basics.

 

Podcasting is super fun and rewarding but expectations tend to run pretty high when a lot of people who want to get started don't necessarily have the know-how or money to sink into a setup that gives them the best quality possible. That's all I'm sayin'. (That also being said, I ride myself incredibly hard on our quality because it's one of the few kinds of feedback we get.)

[pabosher]

BBC 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage anyone?

It's a really special science podcast that features a physicist, and a person who almost became a physicist but decided mid dissertation that a life of comedy was more enriching. Anyway each episode they invite at least one comedian and one scientist along to discuss questions surrounding science and science communication like 'Is irrationality genetic?', 'Can science save us?', 'Are humans uniquely unique?' and other such goodies.

srsly check it out it's great : D

I'm actually reasonably sure Robin Ince has an arts degree; I believe in English Literature, though I might be mistaken.

And yes, Dr. Brian Cox was in D:REAM, band behind the wonderfully catchy Things Can Only Get Better.

[pabosher]

I'm actually reasonably sure Robin Ince has an arts degree; I believe in English Literature, though I might be mistaken.

EDIT: Ah yes, "Ince graduated in English and Drama from Royal Holloway, University of London in 1991."

And yes, Dr. Brian Cox was in D:REAM, band behind the wonderfully catchy Things Can Only Get Better.

... Oh bugger.

[Mawd]

I'm actually reasonably sure Robin Ince has an arts degree; I believe in English Literature, though I might be mistaken.

And yes, Dr. Brian Cox was in D:REAM, band behind the wonderfully catchy Things Can Only Get Better.

 

Its been some months but I am or was fairly sure that in an episode with other physicists he spoke briefly about how he was a few years into a BsC before dropping out. But maybe they were talking about someone else.

[Twig]

I absolutely agree that it is important! I also think there's quite a huge difference between unlistenable and then small fixes that can take it from merely amateur to professional sounding and that people with way better setups or advanced understanding of production ultimately shape the curve for what people expect. 

 

My gripe about difficulty is that someone like me is producing two podcasts for fun inbetween working 40 hours a week and I'm really lucky that our fans donate to a Patreon for the main one I do - there was no way I would have been able to afford a better mic when we first started out. There's also the whole "chasing down and learning how to" time cost too - I taught myself or else badgered people to teach me how to fix some things in Audacity and had to rely on memory of very outdated audio production classes (I actually learned to cut physical tape, that's how long ago it was) for some of the basics.

 

Podcasting is super fun and rewarding but expectations tend to run pretty high when a lot of people who want to get started don't necessarily have the know-how or money to sink into a setup that gives them the best quality possible. That's all I'm sayin'. (That also being said, I ride myself incredibly hard on our quality because it's one of the few kinds of feedback we get.)

Yeah I agree with everything here. I did a podcast too for a while, but then the other two people quit on me. It was a lot of fun (and nobody but us listened)! It was also really terrible quality and it infuriated me every time I'd have to upload a new episode because there was nothing I could do about it. Just came down to microphone quality more than anything else. ):

[Apple Cider]

Yeah, we splurged on some nice mics, though I might even upgrade even further now that I have some income. 

[Roswell47]

Jake turned me on to this thing, which is probably the best way to describe it. The most relaxing way of receiving video game "news": https://twitter.com/VGnewspaper

[Apple Cider]

This is completely bizarre.

[BusbyBerkeley]

Jake turned me on to this thing, which is probably the best way to describe it. The most relaxing way of receiving video game "news": https://twitter.com/VGnewspaper

 

Haha, this was made because someone in the Something Awful Gaming Podcasts thread asked if anyone could recommend a podcast that simply listed off games news stories without any commentary or politics or bias.

[Gormongous]

I love Brianna Wu and what she does, but listening to her on Isometric's game of the year podcast is going to drive me insane.

 

Her two watchwords are "innovation" and "fun," both of which she applies so stubbornly that it's impossible for the games she likes not to make her sound inconsistent. Some games get faulted on lack of mechanical innovation (like Super Smash Bros. for the WiiU and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby) and some for lack of graphical innovation (like Desert Golfing and Fantasy Life), but most for both. Brianna's own GOTY, the visual novel Danganronpa, doesn't get criticism for either despite being an excellent example from an entirely ossified genre.

 

Even then, Brianna discounting This War of Mine from indie GOTY because it's not fun to play and GOTYs have to be fun to qualify really wouldn't be a problem, except that she's louder, more charismatic, and more opinionated than the other three hosts. What makes her hilarious and charming during a regular episode of the podcast becomes painful when she's trying to reach a consensus with other people. Listening to her walk all over Steve Lubitz when he tried to explain why Desert Golfing is his mobile GOTY left me feeling some serious secondhand embarrassment, and hearing her dismiss Monument Valley for nothing more than an overly muted color palette did, too.

 

Listen to Isometric! It's my favorite podcast after the Thumbs. Just don't start with their 2014 GOTY podcast, maybe.

[Apelsin]

I've realized that I can't listen to GOTY podcasts because it just makes me so annoyed with the hosts that do argue in that manner. Had to stop listening to the Giant Bomb one because of the back and forth between the different hosts on certain games. 

[Apple Cider]

I also was similarly upset by the Isometric GOTY episode because Brianna seriously stomped on people's opinions.

 

Also, podcast feedback was well-received and I stepped up the quality of our podcast this week, hopefully. 

http://justicepoints.com/2015/01/06/episode-78-a-whole-new-year/

 

(Only issue was our gain was too high so you can notice some bleed through, but I think I caught most of it.)

[JonCole]

I gave Isometric a second shot relatively recently and again unsubscribed due to Brianna. While I find her to be a good advocate for a part of the industry that I think is important, I'd really prefer the Isometric podcast and not the Brianna Wu podcast w/ recurring guests.

 

Eager to listen to the new JP!

[Bjorn]

Hey, but the Justice Points goty (justice awards) 'cast taught me that you can play as a woman in Shadows of Mordor, something I had no idea about.  So not all goty casts are terrible.